EP/co-showrunner Dean Georgaris told critics at the summer TCA press tour that it was important to honor the men and women who do this work. The show is not serialized, Georgaris said, because “we’re a mission of the week” series, explaining one of his principal inspirations was NBC’s long-running medical drama ER. “That show for me was revelatory. “I did not understand all the lingo,” he said, and he frequently was trying to catch up with the plot – but he watched the immersive doctor drama’s every episode.

There are a number of military shows on the broadcast networks this fall, TV critics noted – military is this TV season’s It Girl, replacing last year’s time-travel genre. Four were ordered to pilot: NBC’s The Brave (aka For God and Country), CBS’ SEAL Team (fka Navy SEAL), Fox’s Behind Enemy Lines and the CW’s Valor. Of the four, three — The Brave, SEAL Team and Valor — were picked up to series. TV critics wondered how The Brave panelists felt about that.

“We’re not worried about standing out,” Georgaris said. “We’re focused on doing the best job with our approach, which is immersive.”

“It’s not as difficult to stand out as you think,” he said. “Yeah, we’re all military shows, but then we’re all different.”

The Brave’s technical advisor Mikal Vega said he was coming from a place “of honoring the men and women who do this job on a day to day basis,” which he said was apparent in the relationship between the cast and creators and everyone on the set.

He and Georgaris talked at some length about the training the actors underwent for this series.

“We’re all working toward a common goal,” said Mike Vogel. Noah Mills said his goal is to portray the members of the military “with respect.”

“We all feel it’s a great gift to be able to portray people who are sacrificing their lives,” Anne Heche weighed in. “This human being I’ve been asked to play is one of the most extraordinary women I’ve ever been able to dive into.”

Vogel called his role “a bucket-list opportunity in my career, getting the opportunity to pay homage to my family members, some of my nearest and dearest friends that come out of this community and making sure I do them justice.” He cited a quote often attributed to both George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling – in both cases erroneously though both men made similar remarks – that “people sleep well in their beds at night because rough men stand in the ready to do violence on our behalf.” To take this acting gig and “in some tiny way contribute” to their real-life heroics “is an honor and I’m humbled by it,” he said.

At one point, Demetrius Grosse reality-checked. “Let’s be very clear,” he said. “We’re actors.”